CLS vs FLEX vs KTCC Stock Comparison

Celestica, Flex and Key Tronic Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (BHE) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
CLS Celestica Inc
$276.22 -24.4% 1M -8.5% 1Y
Market cap
$36.39B
P/E
29.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.23B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
7 wins
FLEX Flex Ltd.
$83.35 -27.3% 1M +28.9% 1Y
Market cap
$34.08B
P/E
35.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$29.27B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
2 wins
KTCC Key Tronic Corp
$2.12 -2.3% 1M -35.4% 1Y
Market cap
$22.76M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$386.67M
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Celestica leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Celestica 7, Flex 2, Key Tronic 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLSFLEXKTCCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $36.39B $34.08B $22.76M CLS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.2x 35.0x -0.5x CLS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.9x 17.1x — FLEX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +61.6% +12.2% -17.4% CLS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.8% 3.3% -12.4% CLS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 25.0% 11.3% -6.5% CLS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.9x 1.5x -46.7x KTCC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -8.5% +28.9% -35.4% FLEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +95.0%/yr +45.2%/yr -20.0%/yr CLS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 79.9% 69.0% 60.4% KTCC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 55/100 27/100 CLS

Percentile Scorecard

CLSFLEXKTCC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCLSFLEXKTCC
Valuation 65 #40 of 112 64 #41 of 112 62 #43 of 112
Growth 91 #11 of 109 51 #54 of 109 2 #107 of 109
Profitability 78 #24 of 104 55 #47 of 104 26 #77 of 104
Financial Health 57 #51 of 116 19 #94 of 116 17 #96 of 116
Shareholder Returns 16 #68 of 81 88 #11 of 81 –
Overall 61 55 27
  • CLS ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • FLEX ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • KTCC ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCLSFLEXKTCCSPY
1 month -24.4%-27.3%-2.3% -0.2%
3 months -21.1%-26.4%-46.6% +3.9%
6 months -23.6%-4.4%-25.1% +8.2%
Year to date -6.6%+38.0%-24.0% +12.9%
1 year -8.5%+28.9%-35.4% +12.3%
3 years +1,134.2%+330.1%-45.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +131.2%+62.7%-18.3% +23.3%
5 years +2,715.7%+545.1%-67.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +95.0%+45.2%-20.0% +10.9%
10 years +2,211.5%+696.8%-73.9% +261.1%
10 years, per year +36.9%+23.1%-12.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCLSFLEXKTCCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 79.9%69.0%60.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 86.3%64.2%70.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.383.110.82 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.110.42-0.59 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -54.0%-52.8%-71.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.5%-48.6%-50.2% -1.2%
52-week high $472.40$162.07$4.26 $779.14
52-week low $246.25$54.51$2.06 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCLSFLEXKTCC
P/E now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 33.2x 31.4xmedian 33.2x -0.5xmedian 33.2x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.8x 1.1xmedian 2.8x 0.1xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.8xmedian 20.0x 21.4xmedian 20.0x -52.6xmedian 20.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 63.9xmedian 29.8x 37.3xmedian 29.8x -11.9xmedian 29.8x
P/B now vs peer median 5.6xmedian 3.0x 5.6xmedian 3.0x 0.3xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.17 2.17median 1.17 0.00median 1.17

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCLSFLEXKTCC
Revenue $18.23B $29.27B $386.67M
Gross profit $2.09B $2.74B $23.94M
Operating income $1.50B $1.45B -$14.72M
Net income $1.25B $973.00M -$47.80M
Free cash flow $545.40M $826.00M -$1.93M
R&D $168.90M – $8.01M
EPS (diluted) $10.23 $2.60 $-4.41
Cash & equivalents $3.96B $2.84B $584.00K
Total debt $818.80M $5.22B $182.02M
Shares (diluted) 121.80M 374.00M 10.84M
Enterprise value $30.92B $23.54B $19.83M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCLSFLEXKTCC
P/E 26.7x 31.4x -0.5x
P/FCF 63.9x 37.3x -11.9x
P/Operating cash flow 24.7x 19.7x 5.2x
P/S 1.9x 1.1x 0.1x
P/B 5.6x 5.6x 0.3x
P/Tangible book 5.8x 6.5x 0.3x
EV/EBITDA 18.8x 21.4x -52.6x
EV/EBIT 21.1x 22.9x -13.9x
EV/Revenue 1.7x 1.1x 0.5x
EV/FCF 58.1x 40.2x -106.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 22.5x 21.2x 46.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 2.17 0.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLSFLEXKTCC
Revenue growth (1Y) 61.6% 12.2% -17.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 1.0% -13.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 53.8% 21.3% -34.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 11.7% -20.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 62.0% 16.2% -2,719%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 14.0% -42.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 73.8% 9.2% -474.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -2.5% -124.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 65.4% 11.2% -470.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 14.4% -124.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 154.8% -0.1% -76.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 19.4% 33.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 37.0% -25.2% -113.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 54.7% 55.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLSFLEXKTCC
Gross margin 11.5% 9.4% 6.2%
EBITDA margin 9.3% 5.3% -1.0%
Operating margin 8.3% 5.0% -3.8%
Pretax margin 8.0% 4.4% -6.4%
Net margin 6.8% 3.3% -12.4%
FCF margin 3.0% 2.8% -0.5%
Operating cash flow margin 7.7% 5.3% 1.1%
Return on equity 28.7% 18.3% -55.5%
Return on assets 10.0% 4.1% -15.4%
Return on invested capital 25.0% 11.3% -6.5%
Return on capital employed 32.1% 13.9% -7.2%
Asset turnover 1.5x 1.2x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.6x -0.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% – 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLSFLEXKTCC
Debt / assets 5.4% 20.7% 60.7%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.9x 2.6x
Net debt / EBITDA -1.9x 1.5x -46.7x
Debt / FCF 1.5x 6.3x -94.5x
Liabilities / assets 59.0% 78.2% 76.9%
Equity / assets 41.0% 21.8% 23.1%
Interest coverage 21.3x 6.5x -1.5x
Current ratio 1.6x 1.4x 2.1x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.6x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.2x 0.0x
Altman Z-score – 2.66 1.75

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLSFLEXKTCC
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -9.6% 2.3% –
Shareholder yield -9.6% 2.3% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCLSFLEXKTCC
Forward P/E 23.9xFY2026 17.1xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $11.54FY2026 $4.88FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +93.3%FY2026 +47.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +77.4% +38.7% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $20.07BFY2026 $36.41BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +64.1%FY2026 +30.4%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +70.3% +29.4% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLSFLEXKTCC
Held by institutions 69.0% 94.3% 41.0%
Institutions holding 874 1,106 26
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% -0.8% -4.2%
Institutions buying 519 674 10
Institutions selling 272 342 8
Buyers to sellers 1.91 1.97 1.25

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CLSFLEXKTCC
CLS 1.00 0.57 0.13
FLEX 0.57 1.00 0.15
KTCC 0.13 0.15 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLS, FLEX and KTCC?

Celestica (CLS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Celestica (CLS) $36.39B, Flex (FLEX) $34.08B, Key Tronic (KTCC) $22.76M.

Which stock is cheaper, CLS, FLEX and KTCC?

Celestica (CLS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Celestica (CLS) 29.2x, Flex (FLEX) 35.0x, Key Tronic (KTCC) -0.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Flex (FLEX) is cheapest (Celestica (CLS) 23.9x, Flex (FLEX) 17.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Celestica (CLS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Celestica (CLS) +61.6%, Flex (FLEX) +12.2%, Key Tronic (KTCC) -17.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Celestica (CLS) has the highest net margin (Celestica (CLS) 6.8%, Flex (FLEX) 3.3%, Key Tronic (KTCC) -12.4%). On return on invested capital, Celestica (CLS) leads (Celestica (CLS) 25.0%, Flex (FLEX) 11.3%, Key Tronic (KTCC) -6.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Flex (FLEX) returned the most: Celestica (CLS) -8.5%, Flex (FLEX) +28.9%, Key Tronic (KTCC) -35.4%. Over five years, Celestica (CLS) compounded fastest (Celestica (CLS) +95.0%/yr, Flex (FLEX) +45.2%/yr, Key Tronic (KTCC) -20.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Key Tronic (KTCC) has been the steadiest (Celestica (CLS) 79.9%, Flex (FLEX) 69.0%, Key Tronic (KTCC) 60.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLS, FLEX and KTCC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Celestica (CLS) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.